


A Fairly Small Problem

by sinfulsanchez



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - No Weirdmageddon, Boys In Love, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Mystery, Sappy, Slow Burn, fic with art, slight angst, the slight angst intensifies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-03-24 01:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13800495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinfulsanchez/pseuds/sinfulsanchez
Summary: Ford went off on an adventure himself and returns slightly different... He needs Dipper's help to get him back to normal.





	1. Prologue

It was a quiet Saturday morning in Gravity Falls, Mabel had gone out with Grenda and Candy to the public pool, while Stan was happily scamming tourists visiting the Mystery Shack. Dipper was up in the attic preparing his backpack for an exploration journey through the woods with his great uncle Ford. Who knows what creatures they might find today! 

Suddenly, he heard quick, panicked steps stomping up the stairs.  
"Dipper? Dipper!" A young voice cried out.

The door to the Mystery Shack's attic got thrown open forcefully. Dipper flinched at the noise and turned around, throwing the backpack he'd just finished packing onto his bed. "Oh?" He stared at the panting pre-teen boy standing in front of him in way too large, dirty clothes. 

"Dipper, I'm- I'm, oh god; you have to help me!" The boy pleaded, approaching him quickly and grabbing Dipper's vest in despair. "Please!"

"Woah, hey, who uh- who are you?" Dipper asked in confusion and gripped the boy's wrists, tugging them off him when he noticed."Oh my god..." 

He gaped at the polydactyl hands. "Great uncle Ford?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Ford try to find out what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to [brb-sinning](archiveofourown.org/users/brb_sinning/profile) for beta-reading and for the awesome art accompanying this chapter!

The boys sat opposite each other on Dipper's bed, Ford finally having calmed down as much as possible given the circumstances. 

"What is the last thing you remember?" Dipper was still trying to get accustomed to his great uncle's new appearance. He could clearly recognize his great uncle’s features in the face of the boy in front of him. The large cracked glasses sat low on Ford’s nose, smooth skin on his cheeks where Dipper was used to seeing stubble and his gray hair a vibrant brown instead. 

Ford only shrugged while he rolled up the long sleeves. "The last thing I remember is... Oh, you were in my lab and I showed you some of my past experiments, the ones I documented in my first journal?"  
Dipper's eyes widened. "Ford", he whispered, "that was three days ago!" 

"Oh..." His great uncle narrowed his eyes. "I really don't remember anything afterwards. Today I woke up in the woods about half a mile up north. I followed the river until I saw the weather vane on the shack’s roof top.”

"Well, the last time I saw you was yesterday morning before you went out... So, whatever happened must have happened to you in the last 24 hours..." Dipper thought out loud. "And now you don't have any memory of it."

"Did I say where I was headed to?"  
The other boy shook his head in response. "No. But I'm sure if we have a look around your lab we could get some clues! Let's go." He grabbed Ford's unusually small hand and dragged him towards the attic door. 

"Wait!" Ford said loudly, and his great nephew turned around. He looked down at his over-sized clothes. "These are really inconvenient. Can you maybe lend me some of yours?" 

"Oh. Oh, sure." Dipper let go of Ford's hand and turned to the closet. He rummaged through his clothes and found a pair of not too dirty shorts. Yeah, those would do. 

He looked for a relatively fresh shirt, but the only one he could find had the brightly colored BABBA logo in big letters printed on it. Dipper made a grimace, afraid that Ford would laugh at him for owning that. He pushed it way back and picked up another one. This one was still folded and smelled faintly like flowers. It was his favorite shirt, though he hadn't worn it all summer; dark blue with a stereotypical alien's head in light gray on the front. He decided that that was definitely the better choice to present Ford with. 

Dipper also reached for a pair of socks and already wanted to turn around, when he suddenly had another thought: Did Ford also expect to borrow underwear? Well, if all his clothes had stayed the size of grown Ford... He searched until he found what he assumed was the last pair of boxers that were actually clean. When he turned back to face him, Ford was just stepping out of his now way too large briefs.

Dipper turned beet red and quickly adverted his eyes, holding out the garments to his great uncle. "Thanks." Ford said as he grabbed them and put them on, while Dipper stared at the floor, trying to keep his gaze to himself. "No problem."  
He waited for Ford to get dressed, then also handed him his spare pair of shoes and watched him put them on.

"So..." Ford frowned as he straightened up. "I think we should keep this from Stanley and Mabel for now, I don't want to unnecessarily concern them..."  
Dipper looked at him questioningly. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

Ford nodded. "I'm sure I'll be able to fix this. We can tell them when it's over. For Stan, I'll be spending my day in the lab. And if Mabel sees me, I’m a kid from town that you befriended."  
Dipper nodded and put Ford’s clothes into the closet next to his others. "Alright. But now let's see what we can find in the lab!" 

They walked downstairs with Dipper going ahead to see if the way was clear. He peeked around the door frame to the shack’s souvenir shop when a “Hey, dude!” from behind him had him flinch. He turned around. “Uh- hey, Soos! What’s- what’s that you got there?” 

Soos chuckled and turned the taxidermy mash-up in his arms to face Dipper. “Meet Sasquirrel, our newest attraction. I was told to put it on the big pedestal. Oh hey, ‘sup, dude?” He lifted one of his hands to wave the boy on the stairs, almost dropping the statue in the process. “New friend of yours, Dipper?” 

“That’s grea-, uh, Gr... Gregory! Yes! Also, we really gotta go, see you later, Soos!” He waved for Ford to follow him and they made a beeline to the old vending machine. A quick look around the shop proved it to be almost empty; only two tourists were studying the Mystery Shack snow globe in the corner, the rest of them was down the hall listening to Stan explaining his exhibition of the bizarre. 

Dipper heard occasional clicks from the shutter of disposable cameras. A hearty laughter let him know Wendy was currently on break hanging with her friends outside. 

“Okay let’s go.” He faced the machine and typed the code to unlock it. With a last glance around, the two quickly headed down to Ford’s underground lair.

“Oh man, everything’s so high up.” Ford complained and climbed on a chair. He still had to get used to this new height and much shorter limbs.

"Let’s see, we need to gather anything which might hint at where I could’ve gone to."  
Ford looked over the papers spread around his desk. In the meantime, Dipper checked the documents strewn around the room. 

"I think I got something!" Dipper exclaimed, picking up a paper on the counter next to his great uncle's desk.

"You've got several notes here on fairies. I mean, different articles that seem like you've gone through carefully to highlight information." He skimmed the texts. "It says there's a subspecies of fairies home to North America which are only able to travel between the Fay world and ours at new moon and full moon. Does this ring any bells?" 

Ford walked over to Dipper and threw a look over his shoulder. "Last night was a new moon... Do you think I went to look for them?" He asked and reached for one of the papers. "But then why would I look like this now?"  


  
[ ](https://rickandmorbid.tumblr.com/)

Dipper read over the paper and narrowed his eyes. "Well, from what I can gather..." His eyes flew over the pages, absorbing as much information in as little time as he could. "Fairies are known to be mischievous, especially towards beings they don’t like, and to often play pranks on humans. Usually it's for teaching them a lesson or getting a point across. Meaning they would not serve you an arbitrary trick, but something related." Dipper looked up and frowned. "So, there must be a reason why they reversed your age specifically." Ford crossed his arms. "Hmm... I can't think of anything."

Dipper directed his gaze back to the papers. He searched until he stumbled over a paper with hand-written notes. It was the same handwriting as in the journal, so he figured it was from Ford's research.  
"You wrote here that there have been sightings in Gravity Falls of creatures which might be from the Fay world. But there's no hint to where you might have gone looking for them."  
Ford sighed. "So, what are we gonna do? If we go look for them, maybe they'll turn you too, we can't risk that!"

Dipper turned thoughtful. "I fear we don't have any other option, only fairies can reverse fairy spells. But since they can only cross on full and new moon, we might not be able to fix this for at least another two weeks. Which in turn gives us some time to prepare."

Ford flashed Dipper a dry smile. "I guess they could've done worse to me. I think I can stand this until we find a solution. Even though it means we'll probably have to tell Stanley and Mabel." 

Dipper smiled back and gathered the notes. "Yeah, we can’t keep it from them for this long. Also, we need to do some more research before attempting to meet the fairies. You know, maybe we can find something on the internet!” 

The boys left the lab, everything on fairies clutched in their small hands and headed to Stan’s office. The computer in there may have been quite old, but it had a reliable LAN connection whereas Dipper’s phone couldn’t even connect to 3G when in the Mystery Shack and all of Ford’s appliances pre-dated the internet, anyway.

Dipper wiggled the door knob and to his surprise, the door opened. He closed it quickly after they’d entered. He fired up the old machine and searched the web for fairies and related terms. Thousands of pages popped up. 

Ford instead had sat down on the floor and began to sort the research by background information and possible protection from fairies.

“There’s lots of tips on how to protect yourself from fairies. Maybe we should follow all of them, just to be sure.” Dipper said, eyes glued to the bright screen. He looked around the desk and found a stack of post-it notes. The boy grabbed a pen and quickly copied his findings onto the small piece of paper. 

“I think I know where I went!” Ford exclaimed suddenly. “Oh?” Dipper looked up with curiosity.  
“Yeah, this is a map of the surrounding woods in Gravity Falls and I circled this hill right there.”

Dipper got up and knelt next to Ford, looking over the map. “How can we be sure if this is related to your fairy research? Maybe it leads to the lair of some other creature!” 

“It is in the direction from the spot I woke up in, though. Maybe we should just go have a look around.” Ford suggested and looked at his great nephew.

“You’re right, maybe we can find some hints or traces you left!” Dipper smiled at him. “I think this is kind of exciting, y’know hunting for clues and reconstructing what happened.” 

Ford chuckled and shrugged. “As long as we can get me back to my actual age, I think this might be a fun little adventure. And I can gather information on fairies.” 

“We’ll check out this spot first thing tomorrow!” Dipper decided and jumped back up. 

Suddenly, the door opened. Dipper flinched and turned to see Stan walking in with a satisfied grin on his face and a thick wad of cash in his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ford and Dipper follow up on the clue from the map Ford found.

“Dipper?” Stan halted in his tracks and frowned. “What are you doing in here and what-” He looked at the boy sitting on the floor. “Who’s this?” 

“Please don’t freak out, Stanley.” Ford said and faced him with his hands making a soothing motion. “But some fairies reverted my age.” 

“Sixer?” Stan whispered as he looked over his de-aged brother from head to toe. It’d been so long since they’d been kids. He blinked at the other and didn’t know what to say. 

“We’ll fix it okay? I’ll be back to my normal age in no more than two weeks?” 

“Two weeks?” Was all Stan managed to say, his gaze still fixed on Ford. 

“The fairies won’t be here before then.” Ford explained quickly. 

“Guess I can call you my little brother now, huh?” Stan’s voice made it clear that he was joking, but there was an emotion in his eyes that Dipper couldn’t quite place. Was it... Sadness?

Stan had finally gathered himself and walked over to the safe, securing the cash inside. He around with a neutral look on his face. “Dipper, just... Be careful, you know.” He left his office. 

“That’s not entirely the reaction I’d expected.” Dipper said and took a seat at the desk again.

“You know, Stanley’s just concerned.” Ford folded up the map and walked up to his great nephew. 

“We’re gonna fix this.” Dipper repeated, and it sounded like a promise.

“I don’t think I’m the one he is concerned about.” Ford muttered and leaned on the desk.

Stanley had talked to him about this before. He did not want to keep Dipper from hanging out with Ford, but he was worried that Ford would drag him into unnecessary danger. “I’ll look out for him, Stanley.” Ford had said, and he’d meant it. And so far, he’d always made sure not to take any avoidable risks. Of course, he wanted his own great nephew to be safe, too. But on the other hand, making scientific progress entailed risks, that was a fact.

“So, show me what you’ve found about protection on the internet”, Ford prompted Dipper. He was still amazed at all the kinds of information that was stored in this “internet”. It was fascinating how he could search millions of resources in a few seconds on any topic he could think of. As a passionate researcher who grew up with libraries full of heavy books as the only sources of knowledge this was a huge game changer. He needed Dipper to show him how to navigate it at some point, he was burning to research anomalies happening all over the world. But right now, they had a more urgent task at hand. 

“I’ve gathered all kinds of things that should be protecting against fairies. Different sources list bread, bells -especially church bells-, and wearing your clothing inside out. And if we need to go one step further and fight back, several sites would suggest using “cold iron”. That’s it, I haven’t yet found any more.” 

Ford nodded. “Except for the church bell, all those should be possible.” He skimmed the page Dipper was on, then stood up straight. “I think that’s all we can do for today. We should go to sleep early, if we really wanna walk up that hill tomorrow.” 

Dipper’s eyes darted to the clock on the wall. They’d been in here for almost two hours. He turned off the computer and helped Ford gather up his documents.

“Let’s bring them up into the attic, I have a pin board where we can organize them.” He suggested, and they made their way upstairs. 

Dipper opened the door and, to his surprise, saw Mabel sitting on her bed, her scrapbook in front of her. 

“Dipper!” She exclaimed excitedly when she saw her twin brother enter. “Oh, you won’t believe what happened at the pool today, you should’ve been there! We-” 

She looked at the other boy. “Oh, hi, I’m Mabel! What’s your name?” 

Ford laughed and waved at her, so she could see his hand. “Mabel, it’s me, Stanford.” 

Mabel’s eyes went wide, and she jumped off the bed. 

“Great uncle Ford?” She approached him with curious eyes and walked around him. “But- but you’re so-” 

“Yeah, Mabel, you wouldn’t believe the day I had, either.” Dipper chuckled and placed the research down at the foot of his bed. 

“Oh, great uncle Ford!” She spread her arms and threw them around her great uncle. “You’re the perfect size for hugs now!” 

“We believe Ford had this done to him by fairies.” Dipper informed Mabel who had broken the hug. 

“Woah, fairies are real?” 

“Well either that...” Dipper theorized. 

“Or I was jinxed by whatever else I encountered when I went looking for fairies. I don’t exactly remember what happened.” Ford completed the sentence. 

Dipper instantly frowned. “You know, I haven’t even thought that far. What if it wasn’t fairies? What if it was something completely unknown that we don’t know how to protect ourselves against? What if turning you back isn’t as easy as going to that hill in two weeks? Maybe, maybe we can’t even-” Ford walked over to Dipper who hadn’t even noticed that he’d started pulling his hair and walking in a circle, and put his hands on his shoulders, stopping him. 

“Hey, hey, Dipper, calm down. It was very likely fairies. Remember? They like playing pranks on humans?” 

Dipper nodded and blinked. “You’re right, you’re right, it’s probably fairies.” He smiled at Ford. “We can fix this.” He repeated, but this time more to himself than the others in the room.

“Boysss”, Mabel tugged on Dipper’s short sleeve, “let’s get dinner, I’m STARVING.” She dropped her voice at the last word for emphasis and made a circular motion over her sweater with her other hand.

“Good idea. Come on, Dipper. We made plenty of progress today.” Ford smiled back at the boy and the three kids walked downstairs to the kitchen.

 

\---

 

After dinner, the three kids had gone up into the attic and played board games until Ford and Dipper decided they had to go to sleep to be up and ready for their adventure tomorrow. They’d brought Ford’s blanket and pillow up and placed a camping mat on the ground since he didn’t want to sleep alone down in his room. “It’ll be like a sleepover!” Mabel had exclaimed as they set it up.

The next morning, Dipper woke up to the beeping of his alarm. He promptly turned it off so as not to wake Mabel. The morning sun was shining softly through the window. It was shortly past 6am when they boy sat up and stretched. When he wanted to get up he almost tripped over Ford who was lying next to his bed. Dipper had already forgotten again. 

He knelt down and softly grabbed Ford’s shoulder. “Hey, Ford, we gotta get up!”  
Ford sleepily opened his eyes and greeted Dipper with a yawn. 

The two boys got ready, then walked downstairs to grab breakfast. The shack was quiet, Stan was probably still sleeping.  
Dipper sat down and mixed himself a bowl of cereal and milk. Ford habitually grabbed a cup and poured himself some coffee. He took a sip - and promptly spat it back out again. “Blergh. This is awful!” 

Dipper lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe it’s been sitting here for a long time? Is it even coffee? You can’t be sure around here.” 

Ford sniffed at the cup shook his head. “No, this is definitely coffee, but... I can’t stand it.” He walked over to the sink and poured it down the drain with a frown. 

“You know, I think I’d like some cereal as well.” He decided and poured himself a bowl full of sugary sweet wheat puffs instead.

 

At exactly 8am, the two boys left the shack and headed up north. Dipper was wearing his backpack that he’d prepared, and Ford had the map handy along with one of his smallest guns - just in case. 

“You know, I feel like I could walk for miles and miles!” Ford laughed. “It’s amazing being young again, my body may be small, but it feels like new!” 

“Do you like it better?” Dipper inquired.

Ford thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “You know, it’s nice. But I’ve done my share of being young. It may feel healthy and full of energy, but...” He stopped and shook his arms out in front of him. “Look at me, I do miss my years of experience and exercise.” 

Dipper chuckled. “Fair enough.” 

They’d been walking for roughly an hour, past where Ford had woken up, when they came to a fork in the way and Ford had to consult the map. The boys ended up following the right path that lead them uphill through the trees. 

Ford and Dipper discussed fairies until the way got so steep they needed to focus on their breathing so as not to run out of breath when talking. They walked in silence for a bit instead.

After a quick stop to drink some water, they walked another hour uphill. It was getting closer to lunch time and the sun was burning down on them. Both Dipper and Ford were sweating and panting by the time they’d reached the top of the small mountain. 

“Oh wow.” Dipper said breathlessly. 

“It’s so nice, how did I-”, Ford needed to catch his breath as well, “how did I forget about being up here before.” 

Both boys took in the beautiful scenery of a small waterfall to their right incessantly pouring water into a wide mountain lake, a huge, obviously ancient tree to their right and a steep mountain wall towering up opposite them.

Dipper sat down his backpack and got out a camera to take shots of the beautiful oasis. He noticed a movement beside him and lowered the camera to see Ford taking off his shirt and glasses and put them on top of his borrowed shorts lying on the ground. 

“Come on”, he said as he kicked off his shoes. “I’m dying to take a swim, aren’t you?” 

Dipper wiped the sweat off his brow, nodding. “You’re right.” He put down the camera and took off his clothes, leaving him with just his underwear while Ford was already wading in the decreasingly shallow water.

“Is it cold?” He shouted to the boy now submerged up to his waist.

“Kinda”, Ford yelled back and dived into the lake. 

Dipper quickly followed up, carefully stepping in the water. It was freezing. The sun had not yet had any chance to warm it up. He slowly waded forward, focused on getting used to the change in temperature and did not see Ford diving towards him until a big wave of cold water hit him. Dipper gasped, blinking, not immediately realizing what had happened until Ford started laughing. 

“Oh. Oh, you’re going to regret that.” 

“Oh yeah?” Ford asked between snickers and quickly dived under when his great nephew strode forward, his hands grazing the water’s surface. 

Dipper looked around where Ford had vanished in the water but didn’t immediately spot him. It gave Ford the chance to approach from behind and he tickled the back of Dipper’s knee. 

Startled, the boy lost his balance and fell into the water, arms waving and a shriek escaping his throat. The coldness washed over him, but he did not go completely under. 

Ford broke through the surface and inhaled deeply, a wide grin on his face. 

If Dipper wouldn’t remind himself occasionally that this was his grown great uncle Ford, he would forget that he wasn’t just another kid his age. But seeing Ford enjoy himself so freely put a smile of his own on his face. It had probably been too long for the other to fool around in such a carefree manner. 

He felt around for the ground beneath his feet and pushed himself off towards Ford.

“Woah!” Ford exclaimed and swerved to avoid the attack. He swam out a few feet on his back, his eyes fixed on Dipper. 

His great nephew quickly swam up and stemmed his hands into the water to launch a wave of water towards the other. Ford eluded it by diving under in the right time. 

They kept playing this wet game of tag for a while, Dipper trying to get back at Ford only for the other to dive under and away from him. There was one time where Dipper managed to grab Ford around his chest and shortly pull him underwater.

Ford rapidly came up again, his cheeks a glowing red. Probably the cold water, Dipper thought. But that would stay his only victory.

“Alright, alright”, Dipper threw up his hands as Ford came up closely behind him. “I give up, you win!” He ran his wet hand through his hair, exposing his birthmark. 

He smiled breathlessly at Ford. Both the boys had cooled down, but were still out of breath, now anew from fooling around in the water. 

Dipper’s gaze rested on Ford’s wet hair sticking from his head, dropped to his eyes, then lips. 

“Dipper”, Ford said to get his attention.

“Oh?” Dipper immediately broke his stare, blushing upon being caught. 

“I think we should get back to uh, investigating.” Ford drew his arms close to himself as the cold started to get to him. 

“Right, yeah.” Dipper started swimming back to the lakefront and Ford followed suit, his heart pounding excitedly in his chest.

The boys got out of the water, dripping wet. “You know, I think I actually packed a towel.” Dipper said as he started rummaging through his backpack. He pulled out a dark red towel and handed it to Ford who dried off, then handed it back.  
He quickly dressed himself, wet underwear be damned, and waited for Dipper to put his clothes back on. 

“You know, I’ve been looking at this tree. It really stands out, don’t you think?” He asked Dipper and stepped towards the massive stem. A huge crevice ran vertically down the middle. Hesitantly, Ford placed his hands on either side. 

The tree felt oddly warm. The boy tried peeking inside the opening, it seemed deep but all he could see was black. 

“Do you think this might be...” Dipper walked up curiously.

“The gateway to the Fay world? Possibly.” Ford pushed up his glasses. “Do you have a flash light?” 

Dipper pulled out one from the side of his back pack. “Which adventurer wouldn’t!” 

Ford took it and peered down the crevice again. All he could see was dark wood and moss. 

“I mean... It did say the crossing was only possible during new and full moon.” Dipper thought out loud.

Ford nodded. “You’re right.” He took a step back and looked at the massive tree. It was full of luscious green leaves and some vines were loosely hanging off its many branches. 

“Hey, I think there’s something up there, high up in the tree.” He pointed up and Dipper took a step to his right, placing his foot into the shrubs to get a better angle. 

“Wait, where? I can’t see a-aaaaaaaaaah!” Dipper cried out as he took another step and slipped down a small steep slope that had been hidden by the plants.

“Dipper!” Ford yelled and hurried over. When he saw where Dipper had landed, his eyes grew wide.  
“Dipper... That’s, that’s... my coat!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are liking this so far! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small chapter, mostly fluff!

Dipper looked around where he was lying. His fall had been cushioned by a light brown coat hanging in the branches of a big bush. He carefully got up and brushed off his clothes. Except for two small scratches he was unharmed. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Y-Yeah.” Dipper replied.

“Well, now we know for sure that I was here.”

Carefully, Dipper got up and lifted the coat from the bush and discovered several broken branches and squashed mushrooms in an area around where he’d come to a halt. Ford must have landed on them initially, Dipper concluded. 

Ford quickly helped Dipper back up the slope and the boy brushed off his clothes. “I think I know why the fairies played this prank on you.” Dipper said and handed Ford his coat back. 

“Oh? Why?” Ford took the coat and scrutinized it for tears and stains. 

“You pissed off the fairies by destroying nature.” Dipper said with a smirk.

Ford frowned. “By falling into a bush? I’m sure that was an accident, I can be clumsy.” 

“Must not have mattered to them, I read nature is sacred to fairies.” Dipper shrugged. “What did you see up in the tree, anyway?”

“Oh, yeah, just a bird’s nest, sorry.” Ford scratched the back of his head. “You’re unharmed, yeah?” 

Dipper nodded. “Like I said, I’m fine. The coat stopped my fall in time. But we should probably head back to the shack, it’s getting late.” 

 

With tired legs but having made significant progress with their endeavor, the two boys made their way back down through the woods. The sun was already low but wouldn’t set for another three hours at least. 

“I really should’ve packed some food.” Dipper complained. 

“We’re almost back, I’m sure Stanley’s already preparing dinner.” Ford said and gripped the backpack’s straps tighter. He’d offered to carry it on their journey back.

There was silence between them again until Dipper chuckled. “It’s kinda funny when you think about it.” 

Ford looked at him and couldn’t help but snicker. “Yeah, I admit it is. Let’s just hope we can get them to turn me back.”

“I’m sure of it.” Dipper said. 

 

The way back didn’t take them quite as long. Dipper offered to bring the backpack upstairs and Ford walked into the kitchen where his brother was cooking dinner.  
“What’s for dinner?” The man turned young inquired. He had to tip-toe to see over the rim of the big pan. 

“Oh, uh, spaghetti. Again.” Stan said, and his gaze dropped to the boy standing next to him. It was strange seeing Ford that young again, right in front of him and not on an old photo. It made him miss the time when they were young, with plans together of sailing the world. Just the two of them.

“STANLEY!” Ford yelled, and Stan snapped back from reminiscing. 

“Oh, shit.” He lifted the pan full of noodles away from the stove top. The water that had boiled over sizzled quietly as the liquid evaporated.  
“Hey, you alright?” Ford inquired and looked up at his brother. 

“Sure thing, Sixer.” Stan replied and was relieved that Dipper and Mabel entered the kitchen in that moment.  
“Hey kids, dinner’s ready in two. I hope you can settle with spaghetti.”

Dinner was over quickly and most of it consisted of Dipper telling Mabel about fairies with the occasional remark from Ford thrown in, much like the day before.  
Stan was uncharacteristically quiet, just commenting here and there. 

Ford wasn’t sure if he should say something. He chose not to. He was confident he understood what bothered Stan. And he also understood it just needed to pass.

 

After dinner, the three kids played a board game in the attic until they were so tired they couldn’t possibly stay awake any longer. 

 

After Ford awoke on the third day he rubbed his eyes and looked at the morning sun throwing light patterns on the ceiling. He stretched and yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. Then he held it in front of his eyes and looked at it. Just three days ago, he’d been in his 59-year-old body... But he had to admit to himself that the memory felt a lot older. Like it’d been years ago. 

Dipper awoke only about an hour later. He got up, groggily, this time minding Ford sleeping next to his bed – except Ford wasn’t even lying there. With a shrug Dipper quietly made his way to the bathroom. He opened the door and walked in – only then noticing Ford standing topless in front of the mirror looking at himself. 

“Oh, oh, sorry.” Dipper said and turned to leave.

“Oh, no, it’s fine.” Ford insisted. “I was just thinking… Maybe we should document this, you know?” 

Dipper faced him as Ford put his shirt back on. “About you being young again?” He inquired, then regretted asking about the obvious. “I mean. Yeah. It would make a full double page in your new journal, I’m sure.” 

Shortly after breakfast, Dipper found himself taking pictures of Ford with his camera. They’d chosen Ford’s old bed room as a photography location because it provided the perfect amount of light in the morning. 

“Let me just-“, Ford mumbled and took off his shirt. “Look at this.” He turned and looked over his shoulder at himself in the mirror. “You can’t see any of the scars I got during my dimension traveling. There’s just this one.” He pointed at a light scar running down his left shoulder blade. “I got this right after I turned 12, Stan accidentally cut me when we were roughhousing. You know what this means?” 

Dipper who had approached him shook his head. His eyes were still transfixed on Ford’s young body. 

“It means the fairies didn’t just put me in some 12-year-old body. They did indeed revert it back to the time I was 12. Isn’t this amazing? Take a picture up close, I need to make a detailed note of this.” He responded eagerly.

“Okay, sure.” Dipper mumbled and lifted the camera to his eye, quickly snapping a picture. He lowered it and ran his left index finger over the small welt. 

“You took it?” Ford inquired, and Dipper withdrew his hand. “Oh, uh, yeah.” 

“Make sure to get me a copy when you get it developed!”

Dipper laughed and handed Ford the camera. “Grunkle Ford, this is a digital camera, I can print you a version instantly with any printer!” 

Ford took the camera from his hands. “Wait, really? I thought this only existed in dimension 97-c-4!” He clicked through the pictures. “This is amazing!” 

“Uh, yeah, no they’ve been a thing here for quite some time.” Dipper snatched the camera from Ford, throwing a quick look at the photo Ford stopped scrolling at.

“Alright, what are our plans for today?” Ford asked while Dipper was stowing away the camera.

His great nephew thought for a bit. “We know where you went, we know why the fairies reversed your age, we know how to protect ourselves when facing them... I think we can put this off for another week at least, there’s nothing else we can prepare, really. So...” The boy shrugged. “Would you wanna work on another experiment?” 

“You know”, Ford said, excitement apparent in his voice, “I think I just wanna enjoy summer for a bit. Can you show me how kids spend their summers nowadays?” 

Dipper hadn’t even thought about that. Now suddenly, his brain was flooding with ideas what to show Ford.

“I mean, I think the weather is pretty bad today. We could go to the arcade! They have this new game where you have to solve a puzzle per level in set time and… No, no, sorry. I wouldn’t do it justice by telling you about it!” 

“Well yes, let’s do that!” Ford agreed. 

“Come on, let’s see if Mabel will come along.” 

 

The kids left right after Mabel had breakfast. “Grenda’s gonna come, too, I promised to play Dance Fever 6 with her.” Mabel informed her brother and great uncle. “But you’re probably just gonna play your nerd games all day anyway, pfhh.” She made a dismissive movement with her hand.

The arcade was quite packed since it was raining outside. Nevertheless, after half an hour Dipper finally got to show Ford the game he wanted to. 

“Okay look, every time this symbol lights up, you have to push this- no wait, wait, this one. And then-“  
“Wait this one?”  
“No, no, look.”  
“Oh!” 

Dipper giggled as he brought the joystick around. “You just ran into the same wall again.”  
“Okay, okay, hold on, I think I got it.” Ford said and grabbed the vertical controller, brushing over Dipper’s hand. His heart fluttered slightly at the touch. He really wasn’t used to his body reacting that way to small things like touches.

Ford was absorbed instantly. It was only then that Dipper realized Ford probably hadn’t played many video games before being sucked into the portal... They were only just getting popular when Ford was traveling dimensions. 

“This is fascinating!” Ford exclaimed as he explored the digital world of the arcade’s newest addition.  
Dipper chuckled, throwing a quick look at the boy next to him. “You should see the newest computer games, they’re even better. I wish I could show you, but they wouldn’t run on grunkle Stan’s old computer.” 

“Oh, oh, look I got it, I got the power-up!” Ford exclaimed and formed a fist with his left hand in victory. 

The kids spent their day playing video games until well in the afternoon when Mabel walked over to the boys. “There you are, it took me AGES to find you.”  
She sat on the floor next to Dipper. “Well, I’ve spent all my energy on dancing. How’s it going with you?”

“I’ve beat Dipper three times in a row!” Ford exclaimed excitedly without ceasing to push the buttons in front of him. 

“It’s unfair, Ford has two more fingers.” Dipper defended himself with a chuckle. 

“Shut up, you just can’t admit that I’m better at this.” Ford giggled and bumped Dipper with his shoulder, still fixated on the game. 

“If you’re done with your little contest I think we should get food.” Mabel piped up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adventures of Dipper and young Ford continue, and their feelings for each other keep on getting more and more confusing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm SO sorry. No, I'm not yet dead lol  
> But life's been super crazy and also I will have to beta-read everything myself again, so I'm sorry for any mistakes! I hope someone's still reading this, I do plan on finishing it... 
> 
> This chapter is awfully sweet and sappy - you have been warned!

The next day, the sun was back and shining down relentlessly on the little town of Gravity Falls and Dipper was planning to show Ford around the public pool.

“I’ve lived in Gravity Falls for a little while, but I never really got to explore the town. And now, so much has changed already...” Ford said thoughtfully, looking around as they passed the houses on their way. 

“You know, I can’t even really imagine what this feels like.” Dipper said as he made a turn to the right.

“Wait, isn’t the pool down to the left?” Ford asked.

“Well, yeah, but what are you gonna wear at the pool?” Dipper asked in return and led Ford into a small clothing store.

Dipper picked a few swim trunks from the clothes rail and urged Ford into the changing room. “Don’t come out until you find something you like.” 

“Is this what boys are wearing now?” Ford asked and stepped out in deep red swim trunks. “The cut is… Very unusual.” 

“Well, yeah.” Dipper said and scratched his head. “But… I think they suit you.” 

Ford smiled. “Alright, I’ll take these.” 

The boys paid for the swimming shorts and left the store, heading towards the pool.

“God, it’s so hot.” Ford ran his hand through his hair.   
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Dipper took off his hat and fanned himself with it. “It'll get better once we’re in the water.” 

 

They arrived after walking down two more streets. 

“Oh god”, Dipper groaned when he saw that it was packed even fuller than the arcade on the day before.   
“Well that was to be expected, I guess.”

Dipper and Ford quickly changed and found a small corner in the pool to cool down in.

“Hey, Dipper!” A bright voice echoed over the exciting screams from around the boys.

Dipper looked up and saw Wendy waving down to him from the lifeguard’s seat. He waved back up at her with a smile. But Wendy had already turned her attention to a girl pushing another one underwater. She picked up the whistle dangling from her neck and blew it fiercely. 

“The lake might have been a lot colder, but I honestly prefer it.” Ford looked around at the people surrounding them. 

“Hey, Dipper, that your new friend?” Wendy was suddenly sitting on the pool’s edge, dangling her legs in the water. 

“Oh hey! Uh, no, my great uncle. Back in his young body. Long story. Fairies.” He said nervously.

“Oh. Cool.” She said and let her gaze roam around the swimming pool. “Are you going to the fair tomorrow? My friends and I were thinking about going.” 

“Oh, uh, yes!” Dipper blurted out. “I’d- I mean, we will!” 

“Cool, see ya there then.” She fist-bumped the flustered boy and climbed back up to her seat. 

“The Corduroy’s daughter, right?” Ford inquired. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah.” Dipper responded as he turned around, finding Ford closer than he’d been before. 

“You know, I never- ah!” All of a sudden, Ford was pushed against Dipper by another adult pushing into him from the back. The boy collided with the other chest to chest, Dipper’s back connecting with the pool’s rim. 

“Ah, sorry.” Ford took a step back, facilitated by the water surrounding him and nervously adjusted his glasses that he wasn’t even wearing. His hand touched the bridge of his nose instead and he awkwardly turned it into a lame gesture of him brushing through his hair. 

Dipper’s heart was racing. After all, he just talked to Wendy, right? Yeah, that’s it. Just Wendy - the usual.  
"You were saying?" 

"I... I, uh. I forgot." Ford chuckled nervously, his hands splashing water away from him.

“Well... I’m sure the fair will be fun!” Dipper said and looked at Ford, then quickly averted his eyes again. "We can go on rides and hang out with Wendy, she's fun. I bet you get to meet the whole gang tomorrow!"

The boys spent a little bit more time in the pool before getting a snack and spending the afternoon sitting in the cool shade instead. “You know, Dipper, this right here isn’t very different from how I and Stan spent our summers.” Ford said and sucked the last bit of his third popsicle from its stick.

“It’s the only way to keep cool in this summer heat.” Dipper shrugged with a smirk and freed his fifth popsicle from its wrapper. 

 

That evening, Ford fell asleep extraordinarily fast, beat from the hot summer day. 

Dipper however, couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. He found himself lying awake at night and thinking about Ford, his great uncle… Except being with him then didn’t feel like being with an older relative. 

Instead, it felt like Dipper had finally found the friend he’d always been looking for. Interested in mysteries and video games, ready to go on adventures, fascinated by the abnormal and intrigued by the unknown, understanding even the nerdiest of his references, smart, cute… Wait. No, scratch that last bit. Dipper drew the blanket over his head. He had NOT just thought that his great uncle was cute. No. Not possible.   
But deep down he knew denying would only make things worse. A strong feeling had taken root and he resisted acknowledging it with every fiber in his body, fully knowing that that would not make it go away.

He focused on planning out the next day until he fell asleep.

 

The following morning the sun was creeping slowly up the sky, lazily dragging its light over the summits of the Oregon mountains. The boys slept in, knowing that their plans would only just be realized shortly after lunch, anyway. 

 

“Alright, kids.” Stan felt slightly uncomfortable addressing his twin brother like that, “let’s go.” He opened the door to the driver's seat and stemmed one hand into his side.

“We get to ride shotgun!” Mabel announced and jumped into the passenger seat with Waddles in her arms. 

Ford and Dipper seated themselves in the back. 

The ride to town was quick, but Stan had insisted in taking the car. 

“Well kids, don’t run off to far, and uh- try not to burn anything down, yeah?” Stan reminded them as he locked the car.

“No problem, great uncle Stan!” Mabel yelled back as the kids hurried off into the crowd. She took Waddles and headed to the mirror maze.

 

“Oh, Dipper, let’s try that game.” Ford tugged on his great nephew’s sleeve to direct his attention to the left side. 

“Dart?” Dipper raised an eyebrow. “I mean, okay.” 

“I haven’t played it in years, but I was always pretty good at it!” Ford said and held out two 1-dollar bills to the stand keeper. 

Dipper stepped up to Ford, his eyes switching from the small arrow in Ford’s hand to the target on the stand’s wall. The other quickly flicked his wrist – and hit a bulls-eye. Ford picked up another arrow and in the next second it had hit the circle next to the first. 

“Hey, you got two down.” Dipper whispered in amazement.

“Hold on, I need to concentrate”, Ford said with his gaze fixed on the target. 

Dipper nodded and stayed quiet. He was looking at Ford who had a stern, focused look on his face; furrowed brows, eyes firmly locked on where he was aiming, lips tightly pressed together… 

“Dipper, uh,” Ford then lowered his arm and sheepishly faced the other boy. “I can’t focus while you’re looking at me.” 

“Oh”, Dipper dropped his gaze and blushed. “Sorry, I really didn’t mean to, you just, I mean I was only-“ 

“Hah!” Ford exclaimed and raised his fist into the air in victory. “Got it!”

Dipper looked up and saw all three arrows sitting neatly in the center of the target. 

“Wow, all three, you really nailed all three shots!” 

The stand owner cleared his throat. “Uh, here’s your prize, kid.” He handed Ford a big stuffed deer with brown fur and light spots. It had been sewn with its legs drawn up to his body in a lying position and a blue ribbon adorned its neck. Black little button eyes stared emptily into the world around it.

“Thanks!” Ford responded and took it from the older man. He eyed it for a short moment, then turned to Dipper. “Actually. I want you to have it.” 

“Me?” 

“Yeah, see it as… A thank you gift. For helping me reverse my current state.” 

“But great uncle Ford, of course I’d help you!”

Ford wiggled the stuffed animal with a grin.

“Well… Thank you!” Dipper took the plushie from the other boy with a smile and gave it a little squeeze.

“Maybe we should check out the rides next!” Ford said and grabbed the other’s hand, pulling him into direction from where occasional screaming could be heard. 

Dipper pressed his face against the plushie’s fur to hide the blush spreading out over his cheeks.

 

The boys got in line for the small rollercoaster framing the fair and Ford, to Dipper’s disappointment, let go of his hand. 

“I hope you’re not afraid of heights.” Ford said and looked up to the highest point of the tracks where the rails curved downwards in a narrow angle.

“I’m, I’m not.” Dipper replied. His heart was racing, but it wasn’t because of the approaching rollercoaster ride. “I’ve fought ghosts and zombies before, I can handle being a few feet above ground.” But apparently cloud nine was already a bit too high up… He put his hand over his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat vibrating throughout his chest. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. 

They got to the ticket booth and purchased one each. “You can’t take that on the ride, son.” The man who’d taken their money pointed at the deer in Dipper’s arm.

“Oh, could I leave it with you maybe? Thanks.” 

The ticket seller nodded and sat it next to him. 

After another two minutes, the current ride was over, and the boys boarded the small cart in the front. 

More kids joined the little train and the man who sold them the tickets came up to fasten the security bar. “Alright folks, enjoy the ride.” 

The guy stepped back to his booth and turned the small key that got the rollercoaster started. With a low rumble the carts were dragged up, higher and higher up into the sky, crawling along the rails with a constant mechanical whirr.

“This gives a fantastic overview over Gravity Falls!” Ford looked around over the roofs of the small town, taking in how it had changed over the last three decades…

“Yeah, it’s great.” Dipper agreed, but he couldn’t enjoy the view for long since their cart approached the top of the curve. It stopped for a little bit, enabling the passengers to brace themselves, and with a squeaky groan pushed itself over the brink. 

Loud screams from the children behind him filled Dipper’s ears and he gasped as his stomach turned upside down. The cart plummeted downwards, then took a sharp turn to the right, then left, then up and down again as the boys were thrown around in the narrow cart. 

The rollercoaster went on for two more rounds, then slowly rolled to a stop. 

Dipper and Ford exited their cart on wobbly legs.

“Oh, phew.” Dipper took a deep breath. 

“Are you alright?” Ford asked, a bright grin on his face. 

“Yes, yes I really am.” Dipper responded in an euphoric voice followed by a nervous grin and retrieved his stuffed animal from the ticket booth. “Just always glad to have firm ground beneath my feet again.” 

“You sure you aren’t nauseous?”

“Ford, I’m fine.” Dipper insisted and walked next to the other.

“Good, because I was thinking maybe we could get some food. I really want something sweet.” Ford looked with bright eyes at the different food stands as they walked past them. 

“Oh, I know!” He then said and marched over to a small stand to his right with his great nephew following him. “I haven’t had funnel cake since I was young!” Ford blurted out excitedly, pulling some bills from his pocket. “One please, with whipped cream.”

“If you’re not young anymore, then what am I?” The middle-aged woman selling him the food mumbled under her breath as she took his money. “Fork?”

“Fork?” Ford forwarded the question to Dipper who shook his head in return.

“One fork.” 

He reached up and took the plastic plate from her. 

“Come on, let’s go sit over there by the tree.” 

The boys sat on a low stone wall right by a big old oak tree throwing a dark shadow around itself. Dipper placed the deer next to him and turned to hold the plate of food with Ford.

“Why would you use a fork for this?” Dipper asked in a joking tone as he pulled a piece of the pastry off the plate.

“Because it’s a messy food.” Ford defended himself as he cut out a small triangle with the side of his plastic fork, scooped some of the whipped cream onto it and shoved it in his mouth.

“Eating it like this is much easier.” Dipper said and removed another bite-sized piece. 

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Ford poked Dipper’s hand with the fork as the other went to grab more of the food. 

“Ow, hey.” Dipper quickly withdrew his hand. Then he shoveled some of the cream topping on his finger and wiped it on Ford’s cheek.

“Quit it!” Ford exclaimed, trying to brush the whipped cream off his face while laughing.   
“Okay, okay, sorry. Wait, let me-“, Dipper lifted his other hand to clean Ford’s face, sticking the finger full of cream between his lips instead. The other boy watched him, blushing a bright red. 

Dipper smiled at him and picked another piece of the funnel cake from the plate. 

They leisurely ate their treat and watched the people stroll by. It was only in that moment that Dipper realized he’d totally forgotten about meeting up with Wendy...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote almost all of this in one go today, I felt so inspired to write again! c: Enjoy~

The next day was just as sunny as the one before. Shortly after breakfast the boys were wandering in the woods again, this time towards the west. 

“Well, what did you want to show me?” Ford asked. “And why do we have to carry these old planks of wood with us?” He shifted the weight of the boards to his other arm, carefully avoiding getting any splinters in his fingers.

“You’ll see, Ford.” Dipper said and smirked at the other’s impatience.

They walked down a rocky path and eventually reached a sparsely covered clearing. To the right side stood a small but seemingly structured pile of wood.

“Wait, you’re building a fort?” Ford’s eyes lit up.

“Y-yeah.” Dipper said and sat down the backpack. “I found a stack of planks by this rotting cabin further down south. And I thought it would be nice to build a fort here. And, and... This isn’t really Mabel’s thing... But I thought maybe you’d want to help me.” 

“That’s so cool!” Ford agreed and put the planks he was carrying down in front of him. He walked to the other side to see more of it. “I’d love to help you build it!”

“Great! That’s what I- What I was hoping you would say”, Dipper exclaimed in an excited tone. “I’ve already made a list of what we have to do! I’ve started with the floor, like... I thought we should build a floor, right, so it’s dry to sit in in case it rains. And maybe instead of a door we could just fix in a curtain, it’s easier to enter and leave the fort, and-”

“Dipper, Dipper”, Ford chuckled, placing a calming hand, “one thing after the other. We have the entire day! No, the entire week even!” 

Dipper blushed and put the list back into his vest’s pocket. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.”

They worked most of the day on the small fort and returned home all exhausted. The fort was nowhere near done. Dipper was looking forward to building it with Ford. This would be _their_ thing!  
A quiet but persistent voice piped up in Dipper’s mind, reminding him that it wouldn’t be their thing for long, however… Since Ford would change back in a little more than a week. But the boy did his best to ignore it. He reminded himself to focus on enjoying all the time he got with young Ford.

Going to bed right after dinner was obviously not an option, so Ford and Dipper decided to watch some TV. But cooped up together in the armchair, arms, hips and thighs touching, neither was able to fully concentrate on the newest episode of Ducktective.

 

In the morning of the following day the boys left the shack early. Having fully replenished their energy with sleep and breakfast, they were determined to make substantial progress on the fort. But the day passed by quickly and in the evening, they hadn’t gotten anywhere near as far as they had planned to. The floor was fully built and also the wall adjacent to the large boulder they chose for support stood tall and proud already. But that was all they had for now.

As much as they wanted to finish building the fort, it was raining heavily the next day and they had to change their plans. They found themselves in Ford’s lab instead. 

“We could continue our Dungeons, Dungeons & More Dungeons campaign!” Dipper suggested. “We have the entire day to play.” 

“I’ll get it.” Ford picked up one of the chairs and brought it over to the bookshelf to his left. He stood on it and reached up high for their game. He still had to tip-toe a little. He grabbed one of the corners of the game and pulled it toward him. “Oh?” He looked down at the paper that had been pulled off the shelf along with the cardboard box and was now fluttering to the ground. 

He stepped down from the chair as Dipper picked up the page. “What’s this?” He said and studied the piece of paper. “It looks and feels like a page of the journal. Or well, one of the journals.”

Ford sat the game down and stepped closer to Dipper. “What’s it say?”

“I’m... Not sure”, he frowned at the document. 

Ford walked up to him and peered over his shoulder. “Oh, yeah, I started writing down my adventures in the dimensions. I planned on filling the rest of the third journal that way.”

“But why is a single page lying on the shelf?” 

Ford scanned the half-filled paper. “Oh, I messed some things up on this page and decided to do it over. Guess I haven’t gotten rid of this yet.”

“Dimension V248”, Dipper read the title out loud, then skimmed the page silently along with Ford. “Oh, wow, you were in this dimension for 4 years? I always imagined you like, hopped from one dimension to the other, never staying in one place too long. You know, looking for Bill and a way to fight him.”

Ford shrugged. “That’s true, most of my time was spent like that. But dimension V248 was… A special dimension, Dipper. It was not too unlike ours. And I’d met someone there who made it worth staying a while. Together, we quickly developed an efficient matter gun. Alone, it would’ve taken me another 4 years.” 

“What happened then?” Dipper inquired. His heart suddenly felt heavier, but he wasn’t sure why and he didn’t want to know.

“What do you mean what happened?” Ford asked and let go of the page.

“I mean… Why did you leave? Did you break up? Or did you just decide it was more important to go after Bill?”

“I… It…”, Ford broke off with a puzzled look on his face. “You know… I don’t remember.” 

Dipper eyed him quizzically. “What do you mean you don’t remember? I thought this was an important person in your life?” 

“I-… Uh, yeah.” Ford dropped his gaze, frowning. He sat down and covered his mouth with his hand in thought, reflecting. 

Dipper pressed his lips together. Ford looked visibly upset and it worried him. He sat the game down on the table and knelt next to Ford. He put an arm around his great uncle in an attempt to comfort him. 

“You know”, Ford began with a breathy voice, “I feel like I’ve forgotten a lot of things. In the past few days, I mean. There’s a lot more that I can’t remember, Dipper.” He turned his head and looked at the other boy with watery eyes, then dropped his head again.

“Hey, hey”, Dipper gently squeezed Ford’s shoulder with his left arm. “Look, this seems to be connected to your entire situation. We’ll get the fairies to reverse your age and to restore your memories, okay? Don’t worry about it.” 

Ford sniffed and nodded. “Thanks, Dipper.” 

Their eyes met another time and this time they lingered. Then, Dipper lowered his gaze to Ford’s lips, which slowly turned into a slight smile. Before he realized it, his head had inched closer to Ford’s face. His cheeks felt red and hot. 

Ford tore him from his trance with a rough clearing of his throat. “I’m sure a round of Dungeons, Dungeons & More Dungeons will distract me a bit.” He got up and reached for the game on the table.

“Oh, oh, yeah.” Dipper blinked as if he just now remembered the game.

Playing the role-playing game was fun, but if Dipper was being honest, he could barely wait to continue building the fort with his friend.

 

Luckily, the next morning seemed to be the start of another warm, sunny summer day.  
The two boys were eagerly discussing the further steps for the fort over breakfast, when suddenly Stan scuffed into the kitchen.  
“Remember, Dipper, you’re supposed to work the register today.” He took a sip from his coffee and went to open the fridge.

“Oh.” He looked at Ford, then Stan. “Can Ford help me out?” 

Stanley looked at him with a confused frown on his face. “I mean… Sure?”  
Why did Dipper ask this as if he requested to have a friend sleep over? Even if in a kid’s body, Ford was still a grown man – his brother, for hell’s sake – who could make his own choices and-  
Stan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He would just leave it to them to sort this whole mess out. 

Half an hour later, Dipper sat in the chair behind the souvenir shop’s register, lazily thumbing through a magazine while Ford wandered around the shack with fascination in his eyes. 

“You know, even though Stanley just made all these creatures as attractions up… His ideas for fantastic animals are astoundingly close to ones who actually exist here in Gravity Falls.”  
The boy shuffled from one clothes rail to another shelf, from one exhibition piece to another showcase, trying on merchandise and studying oddities. 

Eventually, Ford approached the register and rested his elbows on the ledge, cupping his jaw with his hands while he watched Dipper read. “This is so boring, I’d rather we’d work on the fort.” 

“Tell me about it, I’m not even getting paid for this.” Dipper mumbled without looking up.

“Figures.” Ford murmured and let his gaze roam around the room. He observed the handful of tourists drifting around the shop browsing for that one special souvenir to bring home.

It was an uneventful day with no more than two dozen customers. Shortly before dinner time, Dipper was released of his duty. The two boys decided that it was too late to go out to work on the fort and opted for going to sleep early instead. 

The next day would finally be the day they finished the fort.


End file.
